Lots of wins, lots of injuries
During the final rally, the entire stadium stood and said goodbye to Tsonga in sporting retirement. “Both my head and my body have been telling me it’s time to quit”, said the former fifth in the world rankings before his 13th start at his home Grand Slam. After his last performance, Tsonga, whose family and companions were present at the stadium, was honored by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) with the motto flickering the greatest moments of his career “Thank you Jo” over the video screens.
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer paid tribute to the crowd’s favourite. “I hope that the world can soon find as much peace as I have today”, said Tsonga in a moving speech. He has 18 tournament wins in his CV. Tsonga won a silver medal in doubles at the 2012 Olympics and is also the Frenchman with the most wins at major level (121) ahead of Gael Monfils (118), having helped his country to Davis Cup victory in 2017. At Grand Slam level, Tsonga reached five semifinals and even reached the final at the 2008 Australian Open. He was denied the coronation. Possibly also because the powerful athlete was repeatedly thrown back by injuries.
Source: dpa/sid